Club Rides – Tips and Advice

You can use any roadworthy bike and wear any suitable clothing (waterproofs and a helmet are advised).  Why not check out our CLOTHING section for some RVCRC Club clothing?

We recommend you bring at least 2 spare inner tubes and a bicycle pump, as accidents and incidents can happen whilst out on the road and in some relatively remote places on a Sunday!   It’s also advisable to have some smaller portable tools, such as spoke keys, tyre levers and allen keys in your saddle bag/tool bag.

Visitors and potential new members are welcome to join any of our rides. Just turn up at Preston College and ride with the group which suits you best. Our rides are primarily club rides, so once you have enjoyed 3 trial rides, we would ask you to join the club. Existing members should ensure that their membership is up-to-date before taking part in club rides. If you were a member in the past but have had a break in membership, please rejoin before riding with us again.

Any club member who goes on club rides should have third party insurance through membership of British Cycling or  Cycling UK.

Please make sure that the ride leader has your name, and tell him/her if you are leaving the ride early.  It’s always a good idea to carry some form of ID and ICE (In Case of Emergency) information whenever you are out on the bike.

Riding in a group

Some Useful Guidelines for Riding in a Group

Cycling in a bunch is more about communication than technique, whether it’s a local club ride or a big summer sportive, here are some tips useful tips.

Cycling in a group is a different experience. Take your pick from your local club group ride, a sportive, a reliability ride, or even a fitness-focused ‘chain gang’. Whichever you try, there are similar issues when you’re riding in close proximity to other cyclists.

Watching a Tour de France peloton turn and wheel like a flock of birds on TV, you’d almost think the riders were telepathic. However, it all comes down to well-developed cycling skills, good communication, and a mutual understanding and respect for each other’s safety. When you’re not riding this quickly and the stakes aren’t as high, you don’t need such finely honed abilities. Nevertheless, the same group-riding principles apply.

These are just guidelines to make the Sunday ride an enjoyable experience for everybody.

  • Ride a maximum of two abreast where possible and single up where road conditions require it. This is the recommendation of the “Highway Code” and is common courtesy to other road users.
  • Select the group most suitable for your standard of riding. This means that you get a good ride and are not either struggling to keep up or forcing the pace for the rest of the group. However, don’t be worried if you misjudge this. The group will always endevour to ride with the weakest/slowest rider in mind. We will always ensure that at least one experience rider will stay with the less experienced riders to ensure they are safe.
  • During the ride please warn the riders behind of potholes, cars, pedestrians etc.
  • If you are unsure of anything please ask one of the more experienced riders.

 

Please download and read the RIBBLE VALLEY CRC GROUP RIDING ETIQUETTE Advisory notes 

 

Please note the “Advisory notes” document is stored in ‘PDF’ format, if you are unable to view this file please download Adobe Reader

 

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For a more comprehensive set of guidelines for riding in a group you may wish to read the following CTC website magazine article.

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Group Riding Video

Riding in a group can be one of the most enjoyable parts of cycling. Here’s GCN’s advice on how to do it.

 

 

In this video, ex professional cyclist Daniel Lloyd explains the fundamental aspects of group riding, using his knowledge both from pro racing and years spent training with local groups near his home.

The video covers how to get started, how to conduct yourself, controlling the bike, communication and common mistakes that people make.

This video explains the basics of group riding. There are also many other useful GCN videos that detail the more advanced techniques involved in group riding, training and racing:

GCN Group Riding YouTube Videos: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gcn+ride+group